Chapter 364: Hongyu

Chapter 364 -140: Hongyu

“The answer to that is simple. Because: the Saint Emperor is not human!”

Yu Qian spoke slowly. “He was the last Ancient God to be born of Heaven and Earth, and also the most powerful.”

This was easy to understand.

Against the backdrop of the cataclysm, with the invasion of the Great Black Heaven, the world’s will naturally poured all its effort into self-preservation. Saint Emperor Yu, bearing the hope of an entire world, was born in response to the crisis.

“Ancient Gods are deities by birth. They wield the authority of Heaven and Earth and can naturally call upon the Power of Heaven and Earth. It is said the Saint Emperor could even command the Power of World Origin, so of course he would not be hindered by the ‘poisonous Spiritual Qi.'”

“Oh?!”

Fang Rui narrowed his eyes, starting to understand. ‘World Origin is a higher-tier power, whereas Spiritual Qi, Qi Fortune, Earth Qi… are equivalent to secondary energies. The Great Black Heaven only managed to contaminate the Spiritual Qi.’

‘I wonder how my Tribulation ranks compared to the World Origin?’

He pondered this and continued to ask, “In that case, is the current Great Yu Royal Family descended from an Ancient God?”

“Not so! How could a god and a mortal share a bloodline?!”

Yu Qian’s next words were thunderous. “Today’s Great Yu Royal Family descends from the bloodline of the Saint Emperor’s first household retainer.”

“So that’s how it is?!”

Fang Rui’s expression shifted subtly.

It was unexpected, yet it made perfect sense.

Even for a Super Grade existence like himself, siring an heir was incredibly difficult—to say nothing of an Ancient God like Saint Emperor Yu.

‘To put it nicely, the current line of the Great Yu Royal Family are the household retainers of Saint Emperor Yu. To put it bluntly, they’re house slaves! House slaves left to guard the Great Yu!’

‘With such an inglorious past, it’s no wonder the Great Yu officials are so tight-lipped about it.’

Fang Rui mused, noting that when Yu Qian had spoken of the Great Yu Royal Family just now, his face had held little reverence.

That was to be expected.

The official doctrine of this world valued Heaven, Earth, State, Family, and Teacher.

Yes, the third in the hierarchy was ‘State,’ not ‘Sovereign’!

Fang Rui had always found that a little strange, but now that he knew the history, he understood completely.

—With a historical background like that, how could the Great Yu Royal Family, with their origins as house slaves, dare to be ranked alongside Heaven and Earth?

An Elder like Yu Qian would naturally revere Saint Emperor Yu. But as for the current Emperor? Their relationship was likely that of a senior executive to a chairman of the board. There was respect, but the old adage of ‘a subject must die if his ruler commands it’ was complete bullshit.

“This world of ours is named the Hongyu Realm. The ‘Yu’ means Heaven, and it represents orthodoxy.”

Wiping away the blood that kept trickling from the corner of his mouth, Yu Qian sighed and revealed another secret. “The Saint Emperor once said that if someone more suited to saving the world were to appear, they could take the Great Yu and replace it. They would only need to remember one thing: the name of their new state must contain the character ‘Yu.'”

“To honor ‘Yu’ is to honor Heaven!”

Coming from Saint Emperor Yu, those words were understandable. He was an Ancient God of Heaven and Earth, representing the interests of the world, not the interests of the Great Yu.

“Hongyu Realm, Yu, orthodoxy…”

Fang Rui murmured, his mind connecting many dots.

In his past life, the people of every dynasty were called descendants of Yan and Huang. Every emperor styled himself the Celestial Son, and during the sacrifices to heaven, the first line they spoke was always something like, ‘Your humble servant, who governs the mountains and rivers, now makes this offering to Heaven…’

‘It’s a different approach, but the same underlying principle!’

‘However, Saint Emperor Yu’s single statement—that the Great Yu could be replaced—greatly weakened the dynasty’s legitimacy. In other words, he legalized rebellion.’

Fang Rui now understood even more clearly why the Great Yu had to suppress these secrets.

“The ancient cataclysm—did our Hongyu Realm win? Afterward, why did the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi wane? And the Saint Emperor… is he still alive?”

He looked at Yu Qian, whose face was growing ever paler, and asked his questions quickly.

“The Hongyu Realm was victorious, but the cost was catastrophic.”

Yu Qian’s expression grew solemn. “Countless Great Powers fell, and the world’s will was so grievously wounded that it fell into a deep slumber. The Saint Emperor, who was intimately connected to Heaven and Earth, also suffered a backlash, leaving him with little time left to live.”

“In his final days, the Saint Emperor accomplished several great deeds. For instance: after discovering the Spiritual Qi was poisonous, he used the Great Yu’s Qi Fortune Celestial Pillar to seal it away. He used the Innate Supreme Treasure, the ‘Map of Mountains and Rivers,’ to define Qi Fortune. And he pioneered the paths of Martial Arts and the Imperial Spirit Masters to replace the Ancient Spirit Masters…”

“Regrettably, however, the Saint Emperor passed away before his work was complete. The paths of Martial Arts and Imperial Spirit Masters he created were never able to completely abandon Spiritual Qi.”

“So the practice of gathering all the world’s tribulations into a few provinces and ‘harvesting’ them every few decades—that started back then as well?” Fang Rui asked.

“Yes.”

Yu Qian nodded. “In the aftermath of the cataclysm, our Hongyu Realm achieved a pyrrhic victory. The Celestial Path was slumbering, and there were still many rifts in the world…”

“This created an urgent need for a stable Dynasty. To achieve this, the Saint Emperor, heedless of the infamy it would bring, turned and sealed away the remaining Great Powers, thereby founding the Great Yu.”

“Afterward, he used several Innate Supreme Treasures to stabilize Heaven and Earth, gathering the world’s Tribulation Qi and all its variables and compressing them into one corner of the realm. This is the truth behind the calamities that befall several provinces every few decades.”

“This act serves to harvest Qi Fortune and cull the population…”

“Using the Human Path to nurture the Celestial Path, thereby sustaining Heaven and Earth? Using the Qi Fortune Golden Lock to seal and mend the rifts in the world? What a grand vision the Saint Emperor had!”

Fang Rui sighed in admiration, then asked, “But you said before that the Saint Emperor decreed that anyone more suitable to save the world could replace the Great Yu. Doesn’t suppressing all variables like this contradict that?”

“From what I can see, the Great Yu is now deeply entrenched and unshakeable.”

“Furthermore, wasn’t the Saint Emperor afraid that the Great Yu’s upper echelons would become corrupt and degenerate?”

“You’ve hit the nail on the head, Teacher.”

Yu Qian analyzed, “In my view, what the Saint Emperor did was a temporary measure, something he was forced to do by the circumstances. But his successors treated it as a golden rule, a foundation that could never be changed.”

“Initially, this method saved the world—a great merit, which must be acknowledged. At the same time, however, it allowed the Great Yu Royal Family and the Half-Immortal Families to expand without limit. To this day, they have become so deeply entrenched that they are unshakeable.”

“Alas!”